Language and languages, mostly but not always about English

03/04/2013

The Cambridge comma

Louise at Glossophilia describes the Cambridge comma. It is an April Fool’s Day joke, 1 April being the day when people in Britain and some other countries play practical jokes, and newspapers and blogs join in.

The joke is based on the Oxford comma, also known as the serial comma, which is a well-established aspect of English punctuation. It is the comma placed before the last item in a list; it takes its name from Oxford University Press, where it is the house style. It is also an extraordinarily controversial matter for reasons that I totally fail to understand. In my own style I use it if it seems appropriate. I would write that someone bought yoghurt, cereal, sausages, bacon, eggs and fruit, there being no need for a comma before fruit, but in a hotel brochure I would recommend writing that the breakfast menu includes yoghurt, cereal, bacon and eggs, and fruit. Pragmatic clarity seems to be the appropriate guide. I also tend to use it when dealing with phrases rather than one-word list items:

I spent the afternoon writing a complicated blog post, translating a publicity brochure for Megacomputers plc, and preparing material for tomorrow’s classes.

Sadly, however, nonsense like this pervades the internet.

It is an affront to common sense to suggest that there is any ambiguity in the sentences that omit the Oxford comma and, as is always the case, intonation makes the meaning perfectly clear (either way if you insist) in speech.

It is worth noting too that the ‘without’ example on the right is false. The list now has only two items (eggs, toast and orange juice), which must clearly be joined by and. To state that idea clearly, the sentence should be:

I had eggs, and toast and orange juice

or

I had toast and orange juice, and eggs.

Either way, however, the comma must be considered as an Oxford comma, coming as it does before the last list item.

I have already discussed the Oxford comma here. Unlike many people I am not dogmatic about it.

The Cambridge comma is a different matter. To quote Louise:

the Cambridge comma introduces a punctuated pause AFTER the word “and” in lists — i.e. before the final list item … An example of the new Cambridge comma illustrates the unexpectedly belated verbal interruption that it offers: “He packed up his books, cigars, teddy bears and, slippers.”

As a Cambridge man myself I have an interest to declare, but it seems to me that this is a remarkably useful way of indicating in print both the emphasis that the and has when it is spoken as a way of introducing a surprising element at the end of a list and also the pause that follows it. Commas are used to guide a reader in understanding a text; they are rarely necessary or incorrect grammatically though they are conventionally used to mark parentheses, non-defining relative clauses for example, in conditional sentences when the if clause (protasis) precedes the consequence (apodosis), in other cases where a subordinate clause preceding the main clause, and in lists. The tendency in English seems to be to minimise punctuation; Spanish, on the other hand, is heavily punctuated in comparison. In particular, it is very common in Spanish to find a comma between subject and verb. Though this is not approved of, it follows the common Spanish system of using commas for rhetorical purposes, representing pauses in speech.

Long live the splendid Cambridge comma! I look forward eagerly to seeing the University Press adopt it formally as part of Cambridge University’s continuing quest for wisdom, intelligence, research and, novelty.